Mitchell Kertzman

American venture capitalist

Mitchell E. Kertzmann

Born| c. 1949
Nationality| American
Alma mater| Brandeis University
Occupation(s)| Venture capitalist, businessman
Employer| Hummer Winblad Venture Partners

Mitchell E. Kertzman (born c. 1949[1][2][3] ) is an American venture capitalist with Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. He is the former CEO of Sybase, Powersoft, and Liberate Technologies.[4][5]

## Early life and education[edit]

Kertzman grew up in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston.[1][2] (His mother was Miriam Kertzman; she created the first corporate daycare center for American industry and ran it from 1971 to her death c. 1986.[1]) He dropped out of Brandeis University in 1968, then pursued a career as a disk jockey (but was fired after only four months on the job).[1][2] He then learned computer programming, and in 1974 founded the company that later became Powersoft as a one-person contract programming business.[1]

## Career[edit]

During the 1992 Paul Tsongas presidential campaign, Kertzman advised Paul Tsongas; in fact, Tsongas chose Kertzman to introduce him when he introduced his candidacy in April 1991.[1]

Kertzman sold Powersoft to Sybase in 1994 for $904 million.[2] After Sybase purchased Powersoft in 1995, Kertzman became CEO and president of Sybase, but left after three years to become the president and CEO of Network Computer Incorporated, a company spun out of Oracle Corporation.[3] During Kertzman's tenure, Network Computer Incorporated refocused its business from network computer hardware to interactive television, and changed its name to Liberate Technologies.[2]

In 1998, Kertzman testified against Microsoft before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary about an incident where Microsoft advised him not to develop a competing product during an investigation into whether Microsoft was abusing monopoly power.[2]

In 2003, David Lockwood replaced Kertzman as CEO of Liberate Technologies, and Kertzman joined Hummer Winblad Venture Partners,[6] where as of 2014 he is "Managing Director".[7][unreliable source?]

## Personal life[edit]

Kertzman described himself as "socially liberal, fiscally conservative" but not wanting to run for public office.[1] Kertzman is also "an admitted couch potato".[2] During a jam session in an industry meeting, Kertzman gave a rendition of a song entitled "Wild Thing"[which?].[1]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Rifkin, Glenn (April 4, 1993). "Mitchell E. Kertzman; A Company Founder Who Bet His Ranch". The New York Times. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
2. ^ a b c d e f g Fost, Dan (March 5, 2001). "Liberating TV /CEO Kertzman still fighting Microsoft, this time in interactive television". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
3. ^ a b Fost, Dan (November 4, 1998). "Kertzman Leaves Sybase to Head Oracle Spin-Off". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
4. ^ "Mitchell Kertzman". Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. Archived from the original on December 4, 2010.
5. ^ Weisman, Robert (1 June 2005). "After high, low, Silicon Valley takes a pragmatic path - The Boston Globe". archive.boston.com. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
6. ^ Kawamoto, Dawn (March 17, 2003). "Liberate gets a new executive team". CNET. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
7. ^ Harris, Derrick (2013-11-09). "Is NoSQL less disruptive than we thought and just, well, useful?". Gigaom. Retrieved 2021-09-19.

*[c.]: circa